A rousing cheer for librarians and archivists
When was the last time a librarian really helped you get the answer you needed?
When that one piece of paper, carefully and lovingly preserved in the vertical files that that librarian had fought hard to keep in that corner of the library that somebody else wanted for his pet projects was the one piece of paper you absolutely had to have?
When some bit of work an archivist did made the difference between finding the answer and not finding it?
When some obscure record set only he or she knew about was the key to solving a long-time family history mystery?
The Legal Genealogist has been in that position time and time and time again.
I’ve been in that little library in Kosciusko, Mississippi, where the librarian carefully kept a perfectly legible copy of a print-out of a census record that simply can’t be read online. A relative’s age could be three months or five months or eight months if you look at the very best online version of that record; it’s clearly and unequivocally five months in the print-out.
I’ve been in the North Carolina State Archives and been handed that copy of a petition filed by my fourth great grandfather that proved his story about his discharge papers burning up in a house fire really was true — and the fire was on Christmas Eve 1785.
And I expect to be there more than once this week, as I spend a couple of days researching a couple of my own family lines in South Carolina.
Sometime today, I’m going to be looking at the notes of a South Carolina professional genealogist whose collection has been microfilmed and is available here at the South Caroliniana Library at the University of South Carolina. Because a librarian told me it was there.
Sometime this week, I hope to hold in my hands the land records of my ancestors who first walked this part of the country. Because an archivist made sure the records were preserved.
And every time something like this happens, I try to remind myself to make it very clear to that librarian, to that archivist, just how very grateful I am.
I try to remember simply to say thank you.
I try to remember even to send a note to his or her boss when a librarian or archivist goes above and beyond for me.
And I try to remember that our entire community needs to be there for them when the crunch time comes — and it always does — and the library’s or archives’ budget is up on the chopping block.
What the librarians and archivists and other record-keepers do makes genealogy possible.
They’re always there for us.
Let’s be sure we’re always there for them.
Give a rousing cheer for the record-keepers, the librarians and the archivists of this world… and stand ready to work with them whenever they need us to help them preserve all our records for the future.
Enough praise cannot be heaped upon the librarians and archivists at libraries and archives at the city, county and state level both public and non-profit (and even the for-profits).
Every time I’m working on a project it seems like a librarian or archivist helps me with a crucial piece of documentation–a map, a group of records, or that one legible copy of a document that just cannot be read on-line.
So, Judy, I agree: hip, hip hurray for the librarians and archivists, may they continue to preserve our history.
Judy,
I **hope** I remembered to thank profusely the librarian at the Librarian of Congress who helped me, way above the call of duty, years ago now. I’d casually stopped in at a library while waiting for a bus, and entered the name of a gg grandfather in LOC’s search engine “just to see.” His name popped up, with the title of something he’d written that I’d never heard of. Since he was a minister, I hoped at most to find out about a sermon he wrote. Their site said I might get a response in 2-4 business days. Many more than that passed, when my phone rang. Their librarian apologized for the delay. She’d been researching me!! The document was a thick book my gg grandfather wrote in the 1860s, long out of copyright. She wanted to make sure I was really related to him, and a serious researcher, thus her research on me. LOC books aren’t supposed to circulate outside the building. She also learned I lived across the country and was disabled, thus unlikely to get there to look at it for myself. For some reason this book had just been rebound, so was in excellent condition. Nobody had checked it out internally for many years. She couldn’t find another copy in any other US library. So she called me to make the radical suggestion that I try to order it through InterLibrary Loan. I did, and two weeks later held in my hands a book my gg grandfather had written. Since it was out of copyright, I made a copy. Then I sent it back, gladly paying the minimal fee my library charged for ILL. I read it from cover to cover, learning more about his personality, to say nothing of his theology, than I had in all the rest of my research on him. I should have sent flowers to that LOC librarian for all the extra work she did to see that I got a copy of that book!
And thanks for the reminder that the **next** time I get help from a librarian or archivist, I provide the proper thanks. And that I help with the proper donations when libraries and archives are in peril, as they so often are.
Doris
Wow… what a great story about that librarian!!
I so agree! I have received help from archivists and librarians numerous times and they have always been helpful and supportive. I have been to several different libraries and archives over the past 20 plus years and have yet to meet a librarian or archivist who did not offer generous and kind help and I, in return, have done my best to also be helpful. I have never been disappointed even when there was nothing to find. These people often go above and beyond to help.
The Leonardo Andrea Papers-just a guess.
That was my guess, too! I wish I could find out whether his research notes are available there, too, as the copies we have are only of the letters he sent to his clients about his conclusions about our Faifield County Meredith family without the documentation. I want to see what he had based his assertions on!
There are three types of records in the Caroliniana — the files, the folders, and the resources. But there aren’t resources or folders for all the files. So my guess is no. No research notes unless they’re in the folders and resources (and those weren’t extant for my two families).
Yup. Certainly not something I would have known to ask for. And what a hoot Andrea was — dating things with feast days rather than actual dates, for example.
Dating things with feast days is especially amusing to me since he grew up a Methodist and is buried in the cemetery at his home church, Jackson Grove United Methodist Church, in Greenville County, SC.
The unnamed person, who, years ago, painstakingly typed out (in their entirety) death notices from Mobile, Alabama newspapers and filed them in library card catalogues; followed by the unnamed archivists who shepherded that set of file drawers to a small room in the rear of a “temporary” building at an abandoned military base, so I could find what is apparently the only record of the death date of my great-great-great-grandfather.
A great reminder to always thank everyone who helps us put together our family story! Love the idea of leaving notes with librarians and their bosses–I’ll have to start doing this, too!
What a great essay! Many people may not realize that almost all libraries have stuff that is not cataloged, largely because the cost of cataloging is such a drain on meager budgets. There is no thrill like picking up the phone & hearing a librarian say, “I’ve just been in the stacks and found something that you may want to see “
Been helped so many times by librarians, historians, and volunteers at various genealogical societies. They have helped me break down more than one wall. Latest was a historian in Daviess County, IN. who who works for the historical society. Donald Cosby is 88 years old. Two years ago, he handled my request for land/deed records for an ancestor. Before he could mail the info to me, he was in a serious automobile accident. He contacted me the other day, and was doing well enough to return to his position as historian. He wanted to send me the information he found 2 years ago before his accident. Just checking to make sure I had not moved. What dedication and I will always remember his kindness. Sent me valuable information on my ancestor’s land. He is definitely a gem in the genealogical world.
It was my admiration of record-keepers and archivists that made me jump at the opportunity to join them in the preservation of history. We should also be thankful to the families and businesses that saw the value of their records (probably at the behest of an archivist) and passed them on to the archivists.
I am currently a librarian, and a family historian. I’m always so glad when able to locate that long-awaited piece of information for a patron! And it’s so wonderful when another librarian is able to help me out with my own research! It’s so rewarding, no matter what side of the interaction I’m on!